1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for transferring an image from a toner sheet onto an image-receiving sheet or a final sheet (hereinafter referred to as the recording sheet).
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional color-image recording apparatus based on the transfer process is arranged such that, in a case where, for example, color printing in four colors including yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (B) is effected, a recording sheet is wound around and fixed on a hollow drum, exposure is effected with a toner sheet of the first color (Y color) superposed thereon to transfer the Y color onto the recording sheet, and the toner sheet is released. A toner sheet of the second color (M color) is then superposed on the recording sheet to transfer the M color onto the recording sheet, and the toner sheet is released. Similarly, exposure and transfer of the C color and the B color are consecutively effected, thereby forming a four-color print.
With the above-described recording apparatus, however, there has been a problem in that since the transfer and releasing are repeated four times on the hollow drum in the case of color printing in the four colors of Y, M, C, and B, the apparatus becomes large, and it is therefore impossible to meet recent demands to make electronic equipment compact and other similar demands.